Leveraging academic-industry partnerships for inclusive virtual learning

Promise Zvavahera,Farai Chigora,Sheppard Pasipanodya,Chipo Katsande,Evelyn Chiyevo Garwe

doi:10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.18

Promise Zvavahera, Farai Chigora + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.18

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused serious disruptions to higher education institutions across the globe, prompting even the ill-prepared ones to embrace virtual teaching and learning approaches. Academic-industry partnerships remain an underutilised and under-researched mutually beneficial way of strengthening organisational performance. This study used the case of Zimbabwe to fill the gap in the literature by exploring the types and extent of cooperation between academic institutions and industry towards inclusive virtual learning in public and private universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used electronic questionnaires and virtual interviews to collect data from a sample of 100 university staff and executives in industry. The findings revealed major challenges concerning infrastructure, facilities, high cost of data and intermittent power cuts. At present, particularly in public universities, academic-industry synergies were focused on internet and data provision. However, no support was made available for infrastructure and related facilities. The study recommended the need for strong academic-industry partnerships towards funding infrastructure and facilities to enhance virtual teaching and learning.

Highlights

The quest for quality, accessible and affordable higher education has continued to intensify even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic
Despite education being a basic need for every citizen, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the landscape favouring those with adequate information and communication technology (ICT) affordances and disadvantaging those from poor backgrounds (Jachna, 2021)
This study aimed to explore academic-industry partnerships with respect to support for virtual teaching and learning

Summary

Introduction

The quest for quality, accessible and affordable higher education has continued to intensify even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite education being a basic need for every citizen, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the landscape favouring those with adequate information and communication technology (ICT) affordances and disadvantaging those from poor backgrounds (Jachna, 2021). The state of ICT infrastructure and facilities in higher education institutions, especially in most third world countries where governments have struggled to subsidise education, is dire (Bray, 1999). Leveraging academic-industry partnerships did not have access to the internet in sub-Saharan Africa, frustrating the realisation of inclusive and equitable quality education during the COVID-19 pandemic (Nakweya, 2021). In most developed countries, learners have access to the internet and digital devices at an early age in their homes, making it much easier to embrace online learning (Livingstone et al, 2011). Academic-industry collaboration systems are significantly different between developed and developing countries (Wijesinghe, Hansson & Peiris, 2018)

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